Machine lubricator



Jan. 5, 1954 F. l. BJERRE MACHINE LUBRICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18, 1950 3 n we n to r Fa/mar I 55 22/72 v (Ittomegs Patented Jan. 5, 1954 Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,664,969 A MACHINE LUBRICATOR Folmar I. Bjerrc, Hamburg, N. Y. Application October 18, 1950, Serial No. 190,862 A i This invention relatesto machine lubricators, and more particularly to an improved lubricator of the type which is compressed air-operated to furnish a spray of lubricating oil intermittently to apoint of desired lubricant application. For example, one useful application of the present invention is in connection with the lubrication of roller devices of moving trolleys or conveyors or the like; and by way of such example the drawing and specification herein illustrates and describes application of the invention to a conveyor lubricating arrangement whereby the constantly moving rollers and link pins may be lubricated without necessity of stopping theconveyor motion.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved lubricator system of the character described wherein the lubricant spray control valve is of improved form whereby to cause lubricant to be sprayed to the point of use in improved manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lubricator device of the character described, which is arranged to dispense successive blasts of lubricant spray to the desired point of use; said blasts being quantitively predetermined and dispensed under control of a trigger actuated by a moving part without risk of continued spraying and emptying of the lubricant reservoir in event the moving device stops at such place ,as to hold the valve in its open position. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a lubricator device of the character aforesaid which employs a functionally improved valve which is also structurally simplified and adapted for foolproof operation. e

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thespecification hereinafter.

In the drawing-:- I

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation of a travelling conveyor or trolley, showing a lubricator of the presentinvention arranged in conjunction therewith forintermittent operation, controlled to synchronize with arrivals .of the conveyor rollers and link pins at the lubricating stations for spraying the parts with lubricant;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, through the spray control valve device of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along line IIIIII of Fig. 2;

1 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section, on an enlarged scale, taken along line IVIV of Fig. 1; r Fig.5 is a section, taken on an enlarged scale along line VV of Fig.1;

7 Claims. (Cl. 184-15) Fig. 6 illustrates a modified form of theconstructionof Fig, 3; and

Fig. 7 is 'a. fragmentary section taken along line VII-VII of Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawing, a travelling conveyor mechanism is illustrated to include a support rail I0 having flanges l2 upon which run rollers H! which are connected by pins l5 to stirrups 16 carrying the conveyor strand which in this case is illustrated to comprise a link chain illustrated generally at IT. The chain links are interconnected by pins l8; andthus it will be appreciated that the conveyor is of the type such as from time to time requires lubrication of the roller pins l5 and the link pins I8. The lubricator'device of the invention is illustrated as being mounted upon the stationary rail I0, as by means of a base plate l9, which of course might alternately be arranged to span a pair of parallel rails in the case of a dual rail conveyor. The lubricator device includes a compressed air supply conduit 20; a shut-off valve 2 I an air filter 22 which may be of any suitable construction so as to be adapted to segregate liquid or solid impurities present in the compressed air supply. From the filter 22 the compressed air passes through a pressure regulator from whence it is delivered through a conduit into an inspirator 25 which is mounted in connection with an oil supply tank 26. As illustrated in more detail in Fig. 4, the inspirator device 25 includes a suitably sized bore 21 therethrough in communication with the conduit 20 and a suction channel 28 in communication therewith. The channel 28 is in communication with a tube 29 which extends into the tank 25 and almost to the bottom thereof, whereby rush of air through the bore 21 causes the inspirator device to pick up a supply of lubricating oil and mixes it with the air and delivers it in fog form through a discharge conduit 30 which leads to the intake port of the control valve 3!.

As illustrated in Fig. l, the valve 3| includes a second port 32 arranged in communication with acylinder 34 which contains afioating piston or moving diaphragm as indicated at 35. At its'other end the cylinder 34 is connected in series with an airpressure reservoir tank 36 which is also in series with a pressure release valve 38; a pressure regulator 39; and thence into connection as indicated at 40 with the compressed air supply con- As illustrated in Fig. 6, the camshaft 10 may be longitudinally bored as indicated at 84 and transversely bored as indicated at 86 so as to communicate the bore 84 with the bore 46 of the valve spool 44. Then, by means of connections 81 (Figs. 1 and 5) the bored cam shaft may be fluidconnected to lubricant dispensing tubes 88 which terminate in nozzles 39 directed toward the bearing devices of the rollers l4 when the actuating arm 15 is contacted by the moving stirrup of the conveyor; the arms 75 and the tubes 88 being bracketed together as indicated at 90 so as to swing together to follow the motion of the conveyor parts during the lubricant dispensing cycle.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 7, the nozzles 82 may be arranged for positional adjustments in any direction by mounting the branch tube 80 in brackets 94 which are in turn mounted for either vertical or side-wise adjustments at their upper ends upon a cross bar 95 which is in turn vertically and longitudinally adjustably carriedupon' a pair of stirrups 96 which mount by means of adjustable connections 9'! upon the base plate 19 previously referred to. Thus, it will be appreciated that by simple adjustments of the cross bar and bracket devices 94-435 the nozzles 82 may be readily adjusted to various positions so as to be suited to dispense lubricant to any desired point on the moving machine while the delivery tubes 88 may be suitably bent so as to direct the nozzles 89 thereof to dispense lubricant'in any desired manner.

Thus, it will be appreciated that a particular feature of the present invention-is that at no time is there through passage from conduit 30 to dispensing conduit 60 (Fig. 2) and that the valve operates alternately to pre-load the charging cylinder 34 which subsequently is discharged through the same valve device to the dispensing points upon opening of the valve. Thus, a predetermined charge of lubricant is dispensed as needed in an improved manner; Also, if the valve is held in open position, such as by stopping of the conveyor mechanism, it cannot possibly operate to hold open the line between the inspirator 25 and the dispensing nozzles, such as would otherwise cause oil and air to continue to blow upon the stopped machine.

Whereas, the drawing and description hereinabove has included reference to the employment of an accumulator wherein thedispensing charge metering chamber is in the form of the cylinder 34 and floating piston 35, it will be appreciated that it'is not necessary to employ such a device and that the second port 32 of the valve member may be simply directly connected to the reservoir device 36 as an accumulator. In such event there would be no pressure release valve 38 or pressure regulator 39, and no connecting conduit system leading out of the reservoir 36 would be required as illustrated in Fig. 1; the reservoir 36 functioning only as a pressure accumulating bell or, chamber to providepressure for forcingthe lubricant to return through the valve and to the dispensing points when the valve spool 44' is shifted to dispensing position. Thus, in this instance there would be no likelihood of undesirable bleeding of the main supply system as explained hereinabove. Thus in either form of the invention the charge of air-oil mixture is stored in an accumulating chamber for being subsequently dispensed therefrom by the pressure forces therein.

It will be appreciated that the oil feed controland the air pressure control and the trigger i 6 contact devices are readily adjustable to suit the lubricator device of the invention to various conditions of operation, and that it is a particular feature of the invention that the compressed air and oil supply is automatically shut off in event of stoppage of the moving device in a position of trigger contact. Also, in view'of the fact that the device automatically dispensesonly a predetermined quantity in response to each trigger contact, only the desired amount of air and oil will be dispensed at any particular point; and this feature is particularly advantageous for example in connection with slow moving conveyors or like machines. Still another particular advantage of the invention is that reverse direction operation of the conveyor or other machine to be lubricated will not cause injury. either to the conveyor or lubricator parts because the trigger devices of the lubricator operate the same in both directions and can be arranged so that no lubricant will be dispensed incidental to reverse direction operation of the conveyor. Thus, these features and advantages along with other features mentioned hereinabove constitute important advantages in the art; and although only one form of the in-- vention has been shown anddescribed in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that'- the invention is not so limited but that various: changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of j the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a lubricating device, means for supplying air-oil mixture under pressuraand means forconducting the air-oil'mixture from said supply means to a dispensing nozzle directed atthe. part to be lubricated comprising a pressure accumulating chamber, valve means intercalated:

in said conducting means intermediate of said supply means and said nozzle, said valve means including a body portion and a member movable therein in reverse directions between dispensing.

tion whereupon said valve member operates to out off the supply pressure and "disposes said accumulating chamber in'open communication.

with said dispensing nozzle, and valve actuating means comprising a member disposed to register in bearing relation against a moving part of the machine to be lubricated to be actuated by movement thereof so as to forcibly displace said valve member against the pressure thereon into dis'- pensing position whereupon the charge ofoilair within said accumulating chamber will be dispensed through said nozzle.

2. In a lubricating device, means forsupplying 1 air-oil mixture under pressure, and means for conducting the air-oil mixture from said supply means to. a dispensing nozzle directed at the part to be lubricated, said conducting means comprising an accumulating chamber and three iway valve means intercalated in said conducting means intermediate of said supply 'means and said nozzle, said valve means including a bored body portion and a spool valve member movable therein in reverse directions between dispensing andfinon-dispensing positions, said member being biased. to move to nonrdispensim position by the: pressure from said. supply and constructed and arranged to thereupon out all flow to said nozzle and to permit.- flow ed oilair mixture fromsaid supply through said; valve into said accumulating chamber, said valve member being adapted to be forcibly displaced against the action of the pressure from saidsu'pply to be moved to dispensing position whereupon said valve member operates to. cut the supply pressure and disposes said accumulatingchamber in open communication with. said dispensing nozzle, and valve actuating 3115 00111- prising a member disposed to register in bearing relation against a moving: part of the machineto be lubricated to be actuated. by the movement thereof so as: to forcibly displace said valve member against the pressure thereon into dis"- penslng position whereupon the charge of. oilair within said. accumulating chamber will be dispensed through said nozzle 3-. Ina lubricating device, means for supply-- ing air-oil mixture under pressure, conduit means for conducting. the air-oilmixture from said supply means and to a dispensing nozzle directed at the part to: be lubricated, tbree-way valve means intercalated in saidcondnit means intermediate of. and. thereby connected tosaid supply means and said nozzle, an accumulatin chamber connected to said: valve, said valve means including a body portion and a member movable therein between dispensing and nondispensing positions, said member being moved to non-dispensing position by the pressure from said supply andconstructed and arranged tothereupon permit flow of oil-air mixture through said valve intosaidv accumulating. chamber, said valve member being adapted to be forcibly displaced against the actionof said pressure to move to dispensing position whereupon said valve member operates to cut off the supply pressure and disposes said accumulating chamher inopen. communication with saiddispensing nozzle, and valve actuating means comprising a member disposed to register in bearing relation against a moving; part of the machine to be lubricated to be actuated by the movement thereof so as to forcibly displace said valve member against said pressure into dispensing position whereupon the charge of oil-air within said accumulating chamber will be dispensed through said nozzle.

4. In a lubricating device, means for supplyiug air-oil mixture under pressure, and means for conducting the, air-oil mixture from said. su ply means to a dispensing nozzle directed at the part to be lubricated comprising a pressure accumulating chamber, valve means intercalated in said conducting means intermediate of said supply means and said nozzle, said valve means including a body portion and a. valve member movable therein between dispensing and non-dispensing positions, said member being moved to non-dispensing position .by the pressure from said supply and constructed and arranged to thereupon cut off flow to said nozzle and to permit flow of air-oil mixture from said supply through said valve into said accumulating chamber, said valve member being adapted to be forcibly displaced against the action of said pressure to move to dispensing position whereupon said valve member operates :to cut oi the supply pressure and disposes said accumulating chamber in open communication with said dispensing nozzle, and valve actuating means comprising a member disposed to register in bearin relation against a moving part of the machine to be lubricated. to be actuated by the movement thereof so as to forcibly displace said valve member against said pressure into dispensing position whereupon the charge of oil-air, within said accumulating chamber will be dispensed through said nozzle, said. accumulating chamber having a movable wall portion normally biased toward chamber loading position bytbe action of said supply pressure thereon, and reduced pressure pneumatic pressure means connected to said supply means and operable to move said wall portion toward chamber emptying position upon release of the action of said supply pressure against saidwall portion.v

5. In a lubricating device, means for supplying. air under pressure, and means for conducting the air from said supply means to a dispensing. nozzle directed at the part to be lubricated,

said conducting means comprising an accumulating chamber and valve means intercalated in said conducting means intermediate of said supply means and said nozzle, said valve means including a body portion and a valve member movabletherein between dispensing and nondispensing positions, said member being moved to non-dispensingv position by the pressure from said supply and constructed and arranged to thereupon permit flow of air through said valve into said accumulating chamber, said valve member being adapted to be forcibly displaced against the actionof said pressure to move to dispensing position whereupon said valve member operates to cut off the supply pressure and disposes said accumulating chamber in open communication with said dispensing nozzle, and valve actuating means comprising a member disposed to register in bearing relation against a moving part of the machine to be lubricated to be actuated by the movement thereof so as to forcibly displace said valve member against said pressure into dispensing position whereupon the charge of air within said accumulating chamber will. be dispensed through said nozzle, said accumulating chamber having a movable wall portion. normally biased toward chamber loading position by the action of said supply pressure thereon,v means connected to said supply means and operable to move said wall portion toward chamber emptying position upon release of the action of said supply pressure against said wall portion, and oil supply means including inspirator means connected to said conducting means and adapted to introduce oil into the air passing through said conducting means for being carried thereby as an air-oil mixture to said dispensing nozzle.

6. In a lubricating device, means for supplying air-oil mixture under pressure, and means for conducting the air-oil mixture from said supply means to a dispensing nozzle directed at the part to be lubricated comprising an accumulating chamber, valve means intercalated in said conducting means intermediate of said supply means and said nozzle, said valve means including a member movable between dispensing and non-dispensing positions, said member being normally disposed in non-dispensing position and constructed and arranged to thereupon permit flow of oil-air mixture through said valve into said accumulating chamber, said valve member being adapted to be forcibly displaced to move to dispensing position whereupon said valve member operates to cut off the supply pressure and disposes .said accumulating chamber in open communication with said dispensing nozzle, and valve actuating means comprising a member disposed to register in bearing relation against a moving part of the machine to be lubricated to be actuated by the movement thereof so as to forcibly displace said valve member into dispensing position whereupon the charge of oil air within said accumulating chamber will be dispensed through said nozzle, said accumulating chamber having a movable wall portion normally biased toward chamber loading position by the action of the pressure from said supply thereon, and substantially constant force means operable to move said wall portion toward chamber emptying position upon release of the action of said supply pressure against said wall portion.

7. In a lubricating device, means for supplying air-oil mixture under pressure, conduit means for conducting the air-oil mixture from said supply means and to a dispensing nozzle directed at the part to be lubricated, an accumulating chamber, a three-way valve means intercalated in said conduit means intermediate of said supply means and said nozzle, said valve means having a first port connected to the supply by said conduit means and a second port connected to said accumulating chamber and a third port connected to said nozzle by said conduit means, said valve means including a body portion and a spool valve member movable therein in reverse directions between dispensing and non-dispensing positions, said member being moved to non-dispensing position by the pressure from said supply and 10 constructed and arranged to thereupon cut off flow to said nozzle through said third port and to permit flow of oil-air mixture from said sup ply through said first port and out through said second port of said valve into said accumulating chamber, said valve member being adapted to be forcibly displaced against the action of said pressure to move to dispensing position whereupon said valve member operates to cut off the supply pressure beyond said first port and disposes said accumulating chamber in open communication with said dispensing nozzle, through said second and third ports, and valve actuating means comprising a member disposed to register in bearing relation against a moving part of the machine to be lubricated to be actuated by the movement thereof so as to forcibly displace said valve member against said pressure into dispensing position whereupon the charge of oil-air within said accumulating chamber will be dispensed through said nozzle.

FOLMAR I. BJERRE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,840,934 Craig Jan. 12, 1932 2,276,145 Bijur Mar. 10, 1942 2,293,578 Tuhy Aug. 18, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 613,221 Great Britain Nov. 24, 1948 

